oh, yeah, EW!

I have no food in the house, as we were gone all weekend, but it was very nice.

I got to plunk my camp chair down in a spring-fed creek, under a big shade tree all day Saturday, and drink margaritas.

Then I hung out with friends on their fabulous new wrap-around deck and watched the sunset, and hummingbirds fight (they are aggressive little bastards.)

There was lots of food and sunshine.

It was very nice!

Reasons Why Superheroes Aren’t Online More Often

I think Hulk bought the wrong computer....

Erin - sounds like a perfect summer weekend.

I did alot of knitting on the cotton(mix) short-sleeved sweater I'm working on but still have about 4.5 inches of stockinette to do before I hit the lace part. (I knitted while watching my GoT marathon.)

CJ has been out of school for a couple of weeks and I am already starting to get "new school year info" e-mails from the high school. Yikes. His first day is August 8th.

One of my co-workers got summer homework for her daughter in the mail last week.

Excellent memoir from one of Seattle Slew's early trainers. Makes me want to go look for video of Seattle Slew passaging in a post-parade on youtube.

sumi -- It was very nice; very chill. And there was a ton of delicious food, and my friend's new addition and deck are fan-freaking-tastic.

This is going to be a busy writing week, but then it should calm down and then I will be able to concentrate on the website -- finally.

So ... I am in need of (even more) advice from the hivemind. When should I get involved in the little spats between the girls? They are 7, 6, and 4. The spats seem to revolve around who plays what role and how in whatever pretend game that they are playing. I'm trying to keep my distance and let them figure it out themselves. Em needs this skill. Her current ethod of coping is to stomp her feet, scream at them, and start crying. Then she runs away and pouts. I say this will all the love in my heart, but my word she is her mother's daughter.

But every so often, the 7 year old gets really bossy and snotty and I totally want to step in and play momma bear. But I know that won't help Emeline figure out how to operate in a group.

Aims, I generally prefer to let kids sort this stuff out themselves. However, having watched two very talented pre-school teachers this year, I know that you can shape the rules of the play so it's less headache inducing for everybody. There's an emphasis on the word "friends" at the school, and "That's not the way we talk to our friends..." and being fair and everybody having a turn. So it's usually a matter of setting the tone of everybody having a turn at various roles and gently shaping the narrative a bit. Makes everybody happier.

Deep-fried Kool-Aid: [link]